By the Sparkling River
by Starrystarrysky
Summary: Not all promises are meant to be broken. Oneshot. AU. OOC-ness may occur. XD


Something to take your mind off certain things...or not. It's my first HachiKuro oneshot, so please be nice. XD

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**PROLOGUE**

The moon shone brightly over the river on that one, warm February night. The river sparkled magnificently, casting an enchantment throughout the whole place; beckoning, enticing one to tarry by its side forever.

A warm breeze ruffled the grass and the trees, both of them whispering, almost singing sweet lullabies to the tune the wind was playing. Under the moon, everything was almost celestial, as if that place was the universe itself, and each component of that place was made up of a congregation of colourful stars.

By the river embankment, two kids—a boy and a girl—sat side by side, both staring wistfully at the sky, both held captive by the moons gentle arms.

"It sure is beautiful, ne?" the little girl said. Her blonde hair, now rendered silver by the moon, danced against the warm wind.

The boy nodded in agreement, his short, dark hair, gently swaying. "Hai."

A tinkling giggle escaped from her lips, amusement seeping from the pools of her eyes.

The boy's eyebrows furrowed indignantly, a small frown grazing his small lips.

"What's so funny?" he muttered.

"Nothing," she said, a smile still hinting at the corners of her lips. "It's just that you're always so…serious."

"Eh?"

"Well, you're always so serious you know. We've been friends for a long time, but I haven't even seen you smile or laugh openly. It's like you never have fun, at least when you're with me."

The little boy mulled it over, eyes darting here and there, lips still curled into a frown. "Is that so?"

She smiled at him gently. "Mm-hmm."

A few moments of silence pervaded in the air. The two of them were preoccupied with their thoughts: the girl, staring intently at the moon; the boy, staring fascinated at the ground.

"But, it's just the way I am," he finally said, a faint blush colouring the apples of his cheeks.

"I guess so."

A comfortable silence enveloped the two of them, and they continued gazing at the luminous moon, letting their spirits sway with the passing wind.

"Hey," he spoke up. "We'll be friends for a long time, ne?"

She turned to face him. "That's a silly thing to ask. Of course we will! We'll be friends forever!"

"Well you see, I'll be leaving this place tomorrow," he muttered, his head hung low. "We'll be going someplace outside Japan, so I might not be able to see you anymore. If I do, it'll take a long, long, long time."

"Mm. I know that," she replied. "You told me that yesterday."

The boy remained silent, his gaze fixated at the river.

"That's why I took you here," she continued. "You see, this place is magical."

His head cocked quizzically to the side. "Huh?"

"Well, you see, my uncle told me that this place could make people who come here friends forever. All they have to do is watch the moon."

"You believe that?"

The girl pouted. "Of course I do. My uncle told me so. Why, don't you think it's true?"

"W—ell, I do, but I, uh—" he mumbled.

As young as he is, the idea of a 'magical river' just seemed quite weird, even ludicrous to him. The words magical and river just don't seem to go well together.

"I know," he said, turning towards her. "Why don't we meet here again when I get back?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "But you said it'll take a long time before you'll come back."

"That may be so, but," he thought aloud. "Why don't we meet here after ten years?"

She stared at the sky, thoughtful about what her friend had just said. "Ten years, huh?"

"Mm-hmm. Ten years," he smiled.

She turned towards her friend and grinned. "Okay! Ten years it is then."

"Mm," the boy nodded. "Ten years."

She held out her pinkie and held it I front of the boy's face. "Promise?"

He stared uneasily at the finger held up before him. He wasn't sure whether he should partake in that action, but given the fact that he would be leaving the next day, he did so anyway.

He linked his pinkie with hers and smiled. "Hai. I promise."

She grinned from ear to ear. "I'll be waiting for you."

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**ONE**

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She sat by the river, hair dancing gently in the wind, eyes staring longingly at the sparkling waters. Occasionally, her eyes would traverse the length of the river, taking in every hue, every line, and every detail of that precious scene: precious because it never failed to accompany her in her loneliest moments; precious because it always gave her the hope of the fulfilment of a promise.

At that moment, everything had been bathed in the translucent glow of the afternoon sun. Everything seemed warm and friendly to her, as if the river itself was an old friend of hers, conversing with her on lazy afternoons, embracing her amidst the wind's soothing music.

On times such as this, she always had the urge to reach out, imagining that if she did so, he would be there to take her hand in his; hold it as gently as he used to. And maybe, the moment that she looked up, she'd see him there, smiling at her, eyes warm and understanding. Then he'd plop down next to her, and they'd talk in a familiar silence, just as they used to.

However, she knew that only the whistling wind and the rushing river would greet her actions.

Yet, she never felt lonesome whenever that thought crept into her mind. For her, having this place is enough to keep him, his promise, and her hopes alive. It was enough that that the river was there to accompany her, because every day, every minute spent with this river is another moment closer to seeing him again.

This knowledge made everything about the river sparkle even more.

"I wonder what you look like now," she whispered, slowly lying on her back.

She gazed at the sun-tinged sky above her, a sense of lightness seeping into her being. She closed her eyes, and spread her arms beside her as if ready to fly. The wind gently caressed her body, a soft smile spreading across her lips. She had always wanted to stay like this—lying on the fragrant grass, letting all her worries flutter away with the wind.

Only one thing was missing, though—him.

She turned towards the river, gave it another wistful gaze. Soon, she was letting the sight of the river drown her, her memories sailing afloat it.

"This place is just so beautiful," she murmured. "I should like to keep you like this forever."

"Ne, Shinobu-kun?"

She talked to no one in particular; the wind was the only one answering her comments. Yet, she heard it: a voice brought about by the wind. It was but a gentle whisper carried by the breeze, amplified by its tender music.

"_I'll be back soon. I promise."_

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**TWO**

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He stared outside the car window with glazed eyes. His mind was weary, and his eyes focused on nothing in particular: just the scenes that happened to pass by him during that car ride. It was funny that the things that pique his attention, which was just about everything, now bore no meaning to him. Everything that might have caught his eye by then just seemed to meet a brick wall on the way to his mind's registry. To him, even the most colourful of things seemed bleak, even blank at that time.

He heaved out a sigh, one filled with frustration. It irked him that his mind was painfully blank, that he could not seem to think of anything at all. His mind was inexplicably devoid of anything. Yet, he was also too preoccupied. A lone image kept on springing into his head: one of a girl whose golden hair danced softly against the wind, whose eyes rivalled the most brilliant shades of blue, whose hands and face were impeccable than any sculpture ever spawned. She smiled gently, and the sweetness of her smile taunted him, never left him.

"GAAHH!" he hollered, almost tearing his hair out. The more he willed himself not to think of anything, the more he thought about her.

"Something the matter, Shinobu?" his brother asked amusedly.

He slumped back into his seat and heaved out another sigh. "Nothing. Just thinking, that's all."

"Is that so?" his brother smirked.

He wanted to say something in rebuttal to his brother's smug question. However, he decided against it seeing as his brain wasn't working properly. Instead, he resumed his earlier hobby—staring outside the car window.

They were almost out of the city streets, nearing the rural area they once lived in. In place of the shiny skyscrapers and vast highways were lush trees and rocky paths. In spite of this simplified scenery, though, he found it more to his liking. Up to some point he found it comforting and soothing—as though he had finally come home.

Sure, the night lights in the city were remarkable, but to some degree, everything had been monotonous. Yes, the rural area looked pretty much the same all throughout, no matter the time. The sky had always been the same, but the stars weren't. Every night, the stars sparkled differently.

And although he could only see one side of the moon, he was certain that even the moon shone differently on different nights.

"I can't believe we're back again after ten years," his brother said.

He simply nodded. He just kept on staring at the scene before him, the golden-haired girl still ruling his thoughts.

"So, Shinobu," his brother said as he shifted gears. "What are you planning to do here, anyway?"

He shifted his sleepy gaze towards his brother and offered him a simple smile. "Nothing, Kaoru. Just here to keep a promise."

Kaoru regarded him at the corner of his eyes, the corner of his mouth curled upwards. "You always were a weird one, bro."

"Yeah, whatever," he retorted, eyes once again transfixed on the glassy car window.

His faded reflection stared back at him, as if reminding him how gaunt he truly looked, how different he was from the boy of ten years ago. Gone were the big eyes and rounded face. Instead, what he saw staring back at him was a man in his twenties with a somewhat angular face, almost beady eyes, and furrowed eyebrows.

He searched the face of that Shinobu, and realised that nothing, save the black hair, resembled that little boy. He smiled bitterly, as if cursing the fact that he also had to grow up physically.

"Would you still be able to recognise, me, Hagu-chan?" he muttered.

"Huh?" his brother interjected. "Hey Shinobu, maybe you should catch up on some shut eye. You're becoming erratic again."

He stared at the vast cerulean sky, and once again, he was reminded of her glistening eyes. "Okay."

A faint whisper and he drifted off to dreams: "I'll be back soon. I promise."

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**THREE**

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Right after unpacking his bags, his feet had taken him out of the house and towards the river. It wasn't a conscious effort to actually visit the river at that time. It was more of a reflex, an innate feature when it comes to him. He knew that residing in this place, even for a few days, would be impossible without a short visit to this river.

And secretly, he was hoping that she would be there.

One quick look around him, and he found that he was alone. He breathed in deeply and plopped down the soft grass of the riverbanks. If his memory serves him correctly, everything was as it was—everything had looked the same.

Except, of course, she wasn't there, and he's now over 5 feet tall.

He diverted his gaze towards the crescent moon and sighed. Ten years had already passed since he has last looked at the moon beside the river. Actually, it had been ten years since he had looked at the moon, period. In the city it was unlikely, near impossible, to get a view of the moon this decent, this beautiful, this powerful. And despite that aching distance of time, the moon above him gave him some sort of compensation—the feeling of familiarity, friendliness.

Somehow, that had been enough for him.

"So, there you are," a voice called out to him.

He wheeled around, and his heart did a little somersault on the spot.

There she was standing right in front of him, golden hair dancing gently in the wind. Just as before, she was smiling warmly at him. She had called out to him in such friendliness, such familiarity.

Maybe he hadn't been gone for ten years at all.

-- -- -- -- --

It was part of her nightly habit to take a stroll along the river embankment.

As such, she found herself treading on the familiar tracks towards that river. She didn't even have to think of taking those steps anymore. Going to that river had become second nature to her, almost like breathing.

Deep inside her, she knew that a day spent apart from this river was as good as suicide for her. This river, apart from her uncle Shuuji, kept her hopes alive of ever being able to see him again.

And that hope kept _her _alive despite this lonesome town.

Soon enough, she was there, face to face with the river—that and someone else.

There, by the river embankment, sat a young man, probably the same age as she was, black hair swaying to the wind's music, staring longingly at the moon.

She wasn't entirely sure who he was, but she found herself quickening her steps. In a short matter of time, she was but a few feet from him, and with each step she took closer towards him, the greater the feeling of anxiety, happiness, and fear gripped her.

"So, there you are," she suddenly blurted out.

He wheeled around to meet her gaze, and now, she was surer than ever that it really was him.

She saw, staring back at her, Shinobu the way she had imagined him to be: fair-skinned, friendly, handsome.

He looked exactly the way he used to.

-- -- -- -- --

They stayed like that for a few good minutes: the other unbelieving at who stood before him, the other happy that he kept his promise to her.

"You are Shinobu-kun, ne?" she cautiously said, as if realising that it was not proper to just rely on assumptions when it came to other people's identity. "My Shinobu-kun?"

_My Shinobu-kun_—that was how she called him. Once again, he was embraced by a warm feeling of familiarity. Now, more than ever, he felt that he had been there only yesterday, and that moment had just been a continuation of the night before.

Between the two of them, the flow of time has stopped on that night.

He snapped out of his stupor, and offered a small smile and responded, "I'm back, Hagu-chan."

-- -- -- -- --

They lay on the grassy embankment with a blanket of silence covering them. It wasn't the uncomfortable kind of silence, though. It was the brand of silence that only they could produce—the kind of silence that only conveyed much more than silly words could ever hope to. It was enough that even for a few hours, they had each other.

Maybe that was all they ever needed.

"You know what," she started. "I've been waiting for this day for ten years."

He turned on his side and faced her, a stem of grass gritted between his teeth. He only grinned at her.

She inched closer to him and cupped his face in her hands. "Thank you for being here, Shinobu-kun."

In a matter of a heartbeat, she found herself in his arms. His gesture had taken her aback at first, but then, she found herself doing the same, knitting her arms tightly behind him. They revelled at each others' warmth, and embraced the other to make up for the time that they had lost.

But then again, did they lose any time at all?

"I'll be here for a week or so, Hagu-chan," he said, his chin atop a tuft of lemony hair. "Why don't you come live with me during my stay here?"

She stayed tucked inside his embrace, as if never wanting to let go. She only tightened her arms around him, and buried her face deeper into his chest.

"That would be nice, but," came the muffled reply. "I don't think I can."

He gently let go of her, and held her hands in his. "Is something the matter?"

"We'll be friends forever, right?" she asked, a sense of difficulty flickering across her eyes.

Again, he grinned at her and replied, "Of course we will! I'm here, aren't I?"

She shifted her gaze towards the river and smiled bitterly. A bout of déjà vu overtook her. This time, though, he wasn't the one leaving.

"Is something wrong, Hagu-chan? You can tell me, you know."

"I'll be leaving this place tomorrow, Shinobu-kun," sadly, painfully.

If he had been surprised, he hid it quite well. Only a look of full understanding adorned his face at that moment. "Where are you going, Hagu-chan?"

"I can't exactly tell you, but I'll be leaving this place tomorrow."

Once again, he embraced her, more tightly than before. "Meet here again after a few years?"

Tears fell from her wide eyes. It was only at that moment that she realised she was crying. Those tears weren't that of sadness, though. It was more of relief and comfort, and above all, happiness that in the end, he was there, and he kept his promise.

She offered a meek nod in response. "Mm. Sure. I'll always be watching over you, Shinobu-kun."

"I'll be waiting for you, Hagu-chan. I promise."

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**EPILOGUE **

The moon shone brightly over the river on that one, warm February night. The river sparkled magnificently, casting an enchantment throughout the whole place; beckoning, enticing one to tarry by its side forever.

A warm breeze ruffled the grass and the trees, both of them whispering, almost singing sweet lullabies to the tune the wind was playing. Under the moon, everything was almost celestial, as if that place was the universe itself, and each component of that place was made up of a congregation of colourful stars.

By the river embankment, a young man laid alone, black hair dancing gracefully in the wind, the moon reflected in his eyes. A bouquet of white roses sat by him, a couple of petals lying scattered amongst the viridian grass.

"It sure is beautiful, ne?" he whispered.

The wind greeted his comment, and sang a sweet melody in its response.

Everything was as it had been before.

Only again, she wasn't there.

And she could never be.

"So this was the reason," he said as he sat up. "That's why you can't tell me where you'd be going."

He took the bouquet of white roses in his hands and embraced it gently. "I know these aren't exactly the right kind of flowers, but hey, it's the thought that counts, ne?"

He slowly stood up and walked towards the river. He knelt down beside it, and gently set the bouquet of roses afloat on the river.

"When they told me your depression had gotten the better of you, I couldn't believe it. Between the two of us, you had always been the happy one. I felt bad that I might've caused you to be like that, leaving you in a place like this.

"I'm so sorry, Hagu-chan.

"You must've been holding out until I kept my promise.

He shifted his gaze towards the full moon—the hauntingly beautiful moon. The only thing he could see, though, was her. An image of her on their last encounter was burned in his eyes: her sitting by the river, her wide blue eyes turned towards the moon, her fair skin rendered ethereal by the moon. The only thing he could do to keep himself from crying was to keep on staring at the moon, no matter how painful it had been; no matter how unbearable the loss was.

His eyes followed the bouquet roses on the river now floating away from him. He prayed to the moon, that somehow these roses would reach her. He prayed to the moon that somehow, she'll know how happy he was he was able to keep his promise.

"_I'll always be watching over you, Shinobu-kun."_

"Wherever you are, Hagu-chan, I'll wait for you."

**FIN. **

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My first one-shot! GAH! I hope you liked it.

Please read **AND** review! XD

Comments are highly appreciated!

Thanks for reading. XD


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